Dear Editor:
It is embarrassing that Cole County was in the national news because Commissioner Hoelscher was offended by a presidential proclamation honoring the victims in Orlando. A recent letter to the editor advised that there are "guidelines" from the National Flag Foundation and that Cole County has its own Flag Ordinance adopted in 2012 prescribing when the American flag is to be lowered.
In fact, there is a federal law which addresses this issue. 4 United States Code §7(m) provides that "by order of the president, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States government." On the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website it states that in addition to commemorating the death of government officials, "the president may order half-staff display of the flag after other tragic events." Apparently, that is what the president did last week.
I was unaware that the Cole County Commission, rather than taking care of county business, saw fit under the leadership of its former presiding commissioner, to adopt a Flag Ordinance. Part of that ordinance provides: "The flag shall only be lowered to half-staff on other occasions of a Presidential or Gubernatorial proclamation upon approval and permission of the County Commission."
This sentence is not in the guidelines from the National Flag Foundation but instead is a political statement to the effect that current and future presidents and governors are not going to tell Cole County when to lower the U.S. and Missouri flags.
So, apparently, the president of the United States needed to call Commissioner Hoelscher (who was on the commission in 2012) and ask if it was okay with him to lower the flag in memory of the 49 dead and 53 injured. We should be electing commissioners that are more interested in running Cole County and less interested in political grandstanding. Sounds like Mr. Hoelscher has a future in the Legislature.
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